Nest's in a tree
by sliebum
Summary: Maokai had always hated everything vaguely human, but a chance encounter with an avian pair might change that, at least to some degree.


Maokai was pissed. He had just had another argument with Ivern, mostly about his hatred for humans.

Ivern, having once been human himself, spoke for harmony between nature and humans. As with many of their arguments had before, Maokai had left for the gardens.

The gardens were the only place that he could feel at peach, at least a tiny bit. But today he was unable to rest, even there.

The newest introduction to the league, the avian pair of humanoids, was strolling around. While the female appeared to be mostly uninterested in the surroundings, the male kept babbling on about how nice the garden was, how well kempt is appeared, and other mundane stuff.

Maokai decided to just stay where he was, and wait for them to go away, not feeling like interacting with them. When they were just about to pass by him, the female spoke up, interrupting the male in his monologue.

"How about this one Rakan?" Maokia slipped one eye open, to see what she had pointed at, to find her pointing towards him. "What? Who?" the male, Rakan as he was called, stumbled over his words.

"For our nest, did you forget that we were out looking for a place for it," the female lectured, "of course not Xayah, and I must agree, it is a very lovely tree, perfect for our nest."

Maokai was baffled, how didn't they recognize him as a fellow champion of the league? Those demi humans, thinking that everyone should just kiss the ground they walk upon, not giving a care about everyone else.

While he was thinking to himself, he didn't realize that they had begun climbing in to his branches, and only returned to his senses when the female, Xayah had Rakan called her, sat down, literally on top of his head.

Furious, he rose to his full height, throwing Rakan off balance, and roaring "respect less half breeds, how dare you disturb my peaceful garden!"

"Woah, calm down big guy, we didn't see you" Rakan tried, but only managing to fuel his anger.

"Didn't see me! Obviously, you did, the way you climbed on top of me" as if to reinforce his point, he grabbed Xayah by her waist, and threw her on top of Rakan.

"But really, what did I expect, you are no better than humans after all." He had apparently hit a soft spot, as Xayah's expression instantly hardened. "You know nothing" she hissed, clenching her teeth.

"Really now, then do enlighten me," he retorted, challenging her to change his mindset.

Now royally pissed, Xayah yelled "why should I? Your obviously just some melodramatic treant, angry that someone plucked a flower in your garden, I owe you nothing."

While she had been talking, Xayah had by instinct grabbed a pair of feather daggers, but before she could throw them, Rakan decided to separate the two, dashing between them exclaiming "calm down, both of you!"

Seeing that Xayah was still fuming, he snatched the feathers from her hand, and continued talking before she could complain.

"Now, it seems that we started out on the wrong foot, so let's try again," turning towards Maokai, he tried to restart the conversation.

"Hello good sir, my name is Rakan, also known as the charmer, and this lovely woman by my side is Xayah, the rebel, and you are?"

Sensing Rakan's intention to dissolve the conflict, hopefully to enable them to move on from here, Maokai begrudgingly replied "I am Maokai, known as the twisted treant."

"Now, mister Maokai, if you wouldn't mind, we will be moving on, enjoy the rest of the da-" "oh no, I am so not done with you, tree!" Xayah declared, finally having recovered from the surprise of Rakan interrupting her.

"Tell you what, bird" Maokai growled, "I am getting really tired of your attitude, so do please follow your nestmate's advice, and get lost!" had it not been for the rules of the institute, Maokai would just have beaten her to a bloody pulp, but if that attitude of hers continued, he might just do it anyway.

"You know what, sir Maokai, let's make a deal, obviously you harbor some form of hated towards human's, so do we, so if you tell us your story, Xayah will tell hers?" Rakan suggested, trying his best to diffuse the tension.

"Why should I interest myself for your background?" Maokai snickered at the idea that he should have any interest in their past. "Mostly so that we can resolve this in a manner, that doesn't involve us becoming enemies," reasoned Rakan.

"You actually came up with a reasonable plan Rakan," Xayah said, sounding genuinely surprised, but she quickly returned to being angry at Maokai.

"Hmpf, if it makes you leave me alone, then fine, I will entertain you," Maokai declared, if only to get some peace, "before we begin however, know that all I tell you is true."

And so Maokai began, he told them how the barren land had been seeded by him, how it became known as the blessed isles, of how the land bloomed with bountiful forest, how the spirits danced in the plains. He told them how naïve he had been, trusting the first human's that came, believing them to respect nature. Some of them did, however most saw it as a resource, free for them to use.

He paused a moment to gather himself, before explaining the fall of the isles, also explaining where his hatred for human originated.

After he finished Xayah and Rakan said nothing for some time, letting the story sink in.

The first one to break the silence was Xayah, "before I tell my story, I would like to apologize for my previous behavior. I had no idea that you were carrying such a heavy burden, no one should experience something like th-"

"I don't need your pity" Maokai hissed, "I have mourned for the lost isles, there is no more to it than that."

Maokai shook his head, "now Xayah, I think you owe Maokai your story," Rakan expertly, all be it not discreetly, pushed the conversation onwards.

"Yes, yes I do, just give me a second," taking a deep breath, Xayah began. She told how her father had told her stories for the vastayan heroes and of times where spirits roamed free, about how humans slowly, generation after generation, how she had left her village to resort with the humans.

Of how, after she came to a human village, she was robbed, her feathers plucked, and some got the authorities to chase her out, necessitating her to use her feathers as weapons.

That when she returned to her village, it was gone, without a trace. She told how she had to destroy an ancient temple to get rid of shadow magic corrupting it.

When she finished, she was trembling, a lone tear running down her cheek. Maokai had stayed silent during the entire story, just like she had during his story.

"Well, this is embarrassing, we will leave you alone now," Xayah's voice was shaky, at best, and as she moved to get up, Maokai felt as if something inside him was fading, like a lamp running low on fuel.

Before she had taken a step, Maokai scooped her up in his giant hand, holding her close to his chest, as if he was holding a baby.

Xayah, not having completely recovered from speaking of her past, curled into his embrace, and allowing herself to forget the world, at least for some time.

While all this was happening, Rakan had been standing in the shade of another tree, his expression unreadable, his posture relaxed, but at the same time ready to step in, if anything happened.

After some time, Xayah had calmed down enough that she was able to talk normally, and asked Maokai to put her down. Once Xayah was back on the ground, Rakan made his way over to them, a beaming smile on his face.

"Glad to see the two of you getting along so well, but Xayah we still have to find a place for our nest" he reminded her.

"About that, I might have a suggestion for a place," said Maokai, "it is not far from here, but still hidden from human eyes."

"Sure, you properly know this place better than anyone," came a quick reply from Xayah, Rakan nodding in agreement.

"Well then, follow me," Maokai as he turned to the left, signaling them to follow him.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking they came to a clearing, but before entering, Maokai stopped, and turned around.

Once Xayah and Rakan had caught up he said, "a fair warning before we enter, some of the saplings might be a bit clingy, but they mean no harm, just make sure that you don't crush them, and feel free to join the scrubs in their brawl, just play by their rules," the last part of his advice, obviously directed towards Rakan.

Finishing his little warning, he entered the clearing, and was immediately assaulted by a group of saplings, swarming around his feet.

Xayah was speechless, just a few minutes ago, Maokai was like the embodiment of wrath, and now he was playing with some saplings, like he was their uncle or something.

The sound of rustling leaves to her left, snapped her back to the present.

"W-who are y-you," a small shaky voice asked. Looking down Xayah saw the smallest sapling she had ever seen.

Crouching down, to get more on eye-level with the sapling, Xayah greeted it with a smile and introduced herself, "my name is Xayah, I am a friend of Maokai, and what is your name?"

The sapling shuffled its feet, appearing a bit nervous, "m-my name is Auriel, nice to meet you," Auriel paused for a moment, "miss Xayah, uhm, I was wondering…" "yes, what is it?"

Hesitating for just a moment more, Auriel gathered up all her courage, "I-I was wondering if I could ride your shoulders?"

Blinking a couple of times, Xayah put on a beaming smile, "of course you can."

Rakan had entered the clearing about the same time as Maokai, but had immediately moved towards the scrubs, needing to blow of some energy.

They noticed him when he stepped near the edge of the arena, and after rolling out of their pile, they waddled towards him.

The biggest one, most likely also the oldest one, gave him a once over, before explaining the basics, "if you want to join the rules are simple, no hitting or kicking in the head, no choking, no breaking branches or bones, and three taps to the back means you surrender, this has to be respected and no ridicule of this, if you do, you have to leave for 5 minutes, before you can join in again, any questions?"

Rakan put on one of his signature smiles, "yes, when do we begin?"

After Xayah and Auriel had entered the clearing and looked around for a bit, Maokai decided that now might be an appropriate time to get on with why they came in the first place, "miss Xayah, over here," he called out.

When Xayah heard the call, she turned to see Maokai pointing to a tree in the center of the clearing.

It was a beautiful tree, and very tall, but still having an adequate number of branches lower towards the ground, enabling it to be climbed easily by her.

"It is, beautiful," was all Xayah could say, "I am glad you like her, she has taken many years to grow this tall," Maokai told her, pride evident in his voice.

"Wait, her? Is it, sorry, is she alive like you?" Xayah questioned.

"She did not live like me, but all trees are or once were living things. She is the mother to Auriel, among others, but she passed away last winter," noting the nervous expression passing over Xayah's face, he continued, "don't worry she will not start decaying in the next 100 or so years, your nest is safe here."

After a moment of hesitation, Xayah responded, "I am sure that Rakan would agree to place our nest here, but I need to ask someone else first."

Crouching down, Auriel took this as her signal to get down. Rising to her full height again, Xayah turned to face Auriel.

"Auriel, this might come off as rude, but will you allow Rakan and I to build our nest in your mother tree?"

Taken aback by the question, Auriel stumbled over her words, "um… sure?" Realizing something, she continued, "but only if I can play with your seedlings."

Holding back a giggle, Xayah squatted down and held out her hand, "of course you can play with them."

* * *

 **Hello everyone, Slie here.**

 **This thing just popped in to my head a week ago, and I have been toying with this story for some time.**

 **I realize that Maokai might be a bit OOC, mostly in the part around the end of Xayah's story. And as for why Rakan didn't just start a brawl with Maokai, my line of thought, is that he realize that, in a pure** **physical fight, Maokai would likely win, besides, it would be bad to get a reputation as a person who solves conflict with fighting.**

 **Btw if you want a more detailed rundown of their stories, go read them on the official page. I did my best to sum-up the major points, but it lacks details.**

 **Anyway, this WILL NOT continue, but if you guys want, I might do another Maokai story.**

 **To those waiting for another chapter for my other fic, I apologize. The story is very much stuck for me, and will properly stay that way for a long time. With the power of hindsight, I realize that it is a way too big project for my current situation, with school, social life, and other stuff.**

 **This is also my first time trying to write "feeling-porn". I hope it isn't too cringe, but I would love some feedback.**

 **That is all for now, SLie out!**


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